Switch point guard rail



March 20, 1962 Filed May 14, 1958 20/ INVENTOR *6 Fred W. Kern ATTORNEYMarch 20, 1962 F. w. KERN SWITCH POINT GUARD RAIL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledMay 14, 1958 BY WW ATTORNEY March 20, 1962 F. w. KERN 3,026,074

SWITCH POINT GUARD RAIL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 14, 1958 INVENTOR Irae 14 Kerr) BY W7 ATTORNEY United States Patent() 3,026,074 SWITCHPDINT GUARD RAIL Fred W. Kern, Bethlehem, Pa., assignor to BethlehemSteel Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed May 14, 1958, Ser.No. 735,167 2 Claims. (Cl. 246-441) My invention relates to guard raildevices for prolonging the life of railway switch points and stock railsand for reducing the frequency of derailments at switches in yardoperation.

There is a great deal of unnecessary and rapid wear to switch points andmain or stock rails in places where, as in the usual practice, the wheelflanges are free to engage the actual point of the switch, and there isalso corresponding wear on the wheel flanges. Wheels with a bad flangecondition are especially prone to climb the switch point and causederailing of cars.

One object of my invention, therefore, is to provide switch point guardrail assemblies which will dependably restrict sidewise movement of thewheel tread and hold the flange of the wheel away from the actual pointof the switch and the stock rail and thus prevent damaging impacts.

Another object is to provide guard rail assemblies which are completelyreversible so that they may be used on either the right hand or lefthand side of the track.

An additional object is to provide guard rail assemblies having longservice life and permitting easy replacement of guard rails, whenseverely worn, independently of the slide plates, braces and fillerblocks.

Still other objects, purposes and advantages of my invention will appearhereinafter in the specification and claims, and in the three sheets ofdrawings hereto annexed.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a reduced-scale top plan view of a switch point guard railassembly with a filler block supporting the head of the stock rail andconstructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical transverse section, taken on the line 2-2of FIG. 1; I

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a modification of the switch point guardrail assembly, showing the outer base flange of the guard rail milled toprovide clearance for switch rod connections;

FIG. 5 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 55 of FIG. 5,showing a two-piece welded filler block fitting snugly under the headsof both rails;

FIG. 6 is a vertical transverse section similar to FIG. 5, but with aone-piece filler block;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of another modification, showing an adjustableside brace of spring-wedge type; and

FIG. 8 is a vertical transverse section on the line 88 of FIG. 7.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings, in which the invention is shownas applied for a left hand turnout, the numeral 1 designates a righthand switch point of conventional type, connected by side jaw clips 2,bolts 3 and nuts 4 to switch rods 5. Said switch point 1 in the closedposition will fit snugly against the adjacent main or stock rail 6 ofstandard T section, with wide flange base 7, web 8 and head 9. Inparallel spaced relation to said stock rail 6 is the guard rail 10, withstandard outer base flange 11 and having its inner base flange cut awayexcept for a stub portion as at 12 and of considerably heavier sectionso as to provide a deeper web 13 and a higher head 14 than thoseportions of the stock rail 6. Thus the outer edge of the tread of thewheel 15 running 33251374 Patented Mar. 20, 1952 on said stock rail 6will be shoved inward so that the wheel flange 16 will not strike theswitch point 1. Both ends of the head 14 of the guard rail are beveledon their top faces as at 17 and on their inner faces as at 18 to providean easement feature that softens the shock to car and loading at theseplaces. Additional clearance for moving switch parts may 'be provided,if required, by milled slots, at at 18 in FIG. 4, in the outer flange ofthe guard rail.

The base 7 of the main rail 6 is seated, but without bolting or spiking,in a shallow transverse milled recess 19 in the top surface of each ofthe elongated rectangular rolled steel slide or base plates 20, three ofwhich are shown, having a plurality of square holes 21 for the spikes 22securing said plates 20 to underlying wooden ties 23. The inner sideshoulder 24 of said recess 19 cooperates with the outer side shoulder 25to lock the abutting stock rail 6 very firmly and positively as aprecaution against track spreading.

The edge of the guard rails stub flange portion 12 is preferablycontiguous to said outer shoulder 25, as shown in FIG. 2. With the flatside portion 26 of the base plate 20 on which the guard rail 10 isseated being thicker than the opposite flat side portion 27 over whichthe switch point 1 must slide, the guard rail head 14 will beadditionally elevated with respect to the stock rail head 9. However, ifthe normal difference in height between the stock rail 6 and the heavierguard rail 10 is sutficient, the recess 19 in the top surface of thebase plate 20 may be made Wide enough to seat the guard rail 16 thereonalso, as indicated at 19' in FIGS. 5, 6 and 8. The essential matter isthat the guard rail head 14 should be at least 1% inch higher than thetop of the stock rail head 9 for proper guarding. A pair of countersunkround head square neck bolts 28 extend upward through base plate holes29, registering holes 30 in the guard rail flange 11, and double bevelwashers 31 and lock washers 32 whereon they are secured by nuts 33.

An inclined brace 34 having its upper end abutting the outer face of theWeb 13 and head 14 of the guard rail 10 and welded at its lower baseedge by seam 35 to the base plate 20 will impart rigidity andeffectively resist side thrusts and heavy impacts which might otherwisetend to overturn said guard rail 10.

Rolled steel filler blocks 36 are interposed between the main rail 6 andthe guard rail 10. The side of each filler block in contact with theguard rail web 13 has a slightly concave middle portion 37 and isextended upwardly and downwardly so as to be in snug facial engagementwith the underside of the head 14 of the guard rail as at 38 and toengage in similar manner as at 39 the short stub portion 12 of the guardrail base flange.

The opposite side of the filler block 36 is provided with a centralrectangular recess 40 in which is seated the square head 41 of a bolt 42extending through the bolt holes 43 and 44 in the filler block 36 andguard rail web 13 respectively, and secured by a beveled washer 45, lockwasher 46, and nut 47.

As an optional feature, shown in FIG. 2, the side of the filler block 36facing the main rail may be relieved at the top as at 48 and at thebottom as at 49, so that it does not closely engage either the undersideof the main rail head 9 or the upper surface of the main rail flange 7.In some installations, it is desirable for the filler blocks to be thusrelieved adjacent the head of the main rail in order to lessen theconcentration of stresses in the main rail web.

For maximum rigidity, however, the top of the filler block may beextended upward, as at 50 in FIGS. 5, 6 and 8, so as to afford tightengagement and support to the undersides of the heads of both the mainrail 6 and the guard rail 10.

U The filler blocks above considered have been shown as unitary rolledor forged sections. The two-piece filler block which appears as afurther modification in FIG. comprises a rolled flat bar section 51,somewhat similar to a splice bar, engaging the web '8 of the main rail 6between its head 9 and base flange 7, and Welded at top and bottom as at52 and 53 to a heavier rolled section 54 interfitting between the head14 and stub base flange 12 of the guard rail 10. A through bolt 55 withcountersunk round head 56 secures this filler block to the web 8 of theguard rail 6.

It is, of course, necessary for the guard rail to be fully supported andto be braced with the utmost dependability, since its primary utility isits continued firmness in resisting wheelrside thrusts without breakage.

The adjustable Wedge device shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 has the additionaladvantage of providing resilience for absorption and recovery fromsudden wheel shocks while still maintaining constant pressure againstthe guard rail. On the center base plate 57 is welded an upright sidebrace 58 through which extends a bolt 59 pivotflly supporting a pair ofpawls 60. The wedge 61 proper has its inner face shaped to engage thebase flange and web of the guard rail 10. The outer face 62 of the wedge61 is provided with an inward taper and with spaced slots 63 to receivethe pawls 60, and is recessed to receive a terrninally supportedcross-sectionally L-shaped spring mem- 'ber 64 which engages the sidebrace 58.

7 When the Wedge 61 is driven parallel to the guard rail 10, the sidebrace 58 compresses the spring member 64 4} equivalents as are includedwithin the scope and spirit of the invention or pointed out in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A railway guard rail assembly comprising a main rail, a guard rail inspaced parallel relation to the main rail, the height of the guard railbeing sufiicient to engage the side of a wheel on the main rail, a baseplate under the guard rail and the main rail, a filler block interposedbetween the guard rail and the main rail, the side of the filler blockfacing the main rail being relieved at its top and bottom to providespaces between the filler block a and the head and based the main rail,bolts removably securing the filler block solely to the guard rail,bolts extending through the guard rail and the base plate and removablysecuring the guard rail to the base plate, and a side brace secured tothe base plate and engaging the head of the guard rail.

2. A railway guard rail assembly for use alongside a main railcomprising a guard rail, the height of the guard rail being sufiicientto engage the side of a wheel on the main rail, a plurality of baseplates removably bolted to the guard rail and having portions adapted tounderlie the main rail, side braces secured to said base plates andengaging the head of the guard rail, a plurality of filler blocksremovably bolted to the web of the guard rail and engaging the head andbase of the guard rail, the outer faces of the filler blocks being of aheight less than the distance between the head and the flange of themain and forces the Wedge tightly against the web and flange of saidrail, with backward movement being prevented by the pawls 60.

Any of these assemblies may be used at curves and similar locationsWhere there may be some risk of derailments if left unguarded and it isdesired to minimize wear on the main rail and wheel flanges, even wherethere are no switch points.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application,Serial No. 549,387, filed November 28, 1955, for Switch Point GuardRail.

Although I have thus described my invention hereinabove in considerabledetail, I do not wish to be limited narrowly to the exact and specificparticulars disclosed, but I may also use such substitutes,modifications or main rail spaces will be provided between filler blocksand the head and the base of the main rail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,230,256 Willson et al. June 19, 1917 1,550,019 Einstein et a1. Aug.13, 1925 1,589,954 Gerhard June 22, 1926 1,628,882 Hoffman et al May 17,1927 2,101,313 Gillispie Dec. 7, 1937 2,235,248 Asselin Mar. 18, 19412,419,701 Asselin Apr. 29, 1947 2,426,138 Asselin Aug. 19, 19472,542,840 Riddle Feb. 20, 1951 2,597,697 Asselin May 20, 1952

